How to Flourish in Business

flourishing,  adjective

flour·​ish·​ing | \ ˈflər-i-shiŋ, ˈflə-rish \

: marked by vigorous and healthy growth  – a flourishing garden: 

very active and successful  – a flourishing career

Flourishing

Flourishing is one of my favorite words.  It is a word that is thoroughly described in the Bible, yet is seldom used in today’s culture.

And when it is used, it is insufficiently applied.  Frequently, flourishing is used as a synonym for success, which only captures a small portion of the full definition of flourishing.

Current Examples of Flourishing

The following are several tips for good business practices that are examples of flourishing in today’s culture.

• Stand out from the crowd

“Be an orange among apples.”  Use innovation as a means to introduce something new, improve existing products or services, and work on your customer servicing.

• Market opportunities

Be constantly on the lookout for opportunities, no matter how small. Business owners and entrepreneurs should also consider what innovations from another industry they can introduce in their industry.

Remember that entrepreneurship is all about addressing irritations as they can serve as inspiration for future innovations. In solving one’s own irritation, entrepreneurs could be addressing someone else’s concern and, in turn, create a new business.

• Embrace digital

Learn what’s important to your audience using various tools online.  These online tools can be used to market their businesses, can be custom fit for various products and services meeting the customers’ needs.

• Strategize

While anyone can learn from seasoned entrepreneurs and discover more management tools to help ease running a business, it is the strategies behind them that make them useful and successful.  And these strategies always come from the business owner.

Biblical View of Flourishing

While the four tips for flourishing are great, practical, and should be considered, adding to these tips with a biblical lens adds to their veracity.

            First, the Bible stresses fruitfulness. 

Both the Old and New Testaments describe fruitfulness as a desirable trait indicative of growth and vitality.   In Isaiah 32:15-20, Isaiah prophesies about a future time when righteousness will be sown and peace, harvested: “its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.“

Don’t just look out for market opportunities, but look for ways to solve real problems that will help your community.

            Second, flourishing is about prosperity. 

“So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess (Deut 5:32-33).

The word for “prosper” in this passage comes from the Hebrew word for “good.” It is not alluding to a material blessing, which is not an end unto itself, but a means to love God and others.

This prosperity is neither a right nor a reward but comes through grace, so it can be stewarded for the glory of God.

One clear way to stand out in the crowd is to openly demonstrate your love, care, and concern for your customers and employees.

Third, flourishing is about life. 

In Deuteronomy 30:11-20, Moses summarizes his instruction from God.

 “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.”

So, Moses says, “choose life.” Why? “For the LORD is your life.”

The Lord is our life; it’s a theme that resounds in the Gospel of John. Jesus tells us, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) and of those who would believe in him, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

To have true life, to flourish is to know the Lord.

            Finally, flourishing is about peace.

The peace associated with flourishing is shalom. It’s the peace associated with the righteousness and justice in Isaiah 32:15-20. It’s the peace God told his people to work for when they were in exile in Babylon:

“Seek the shalom of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it experiences shalom, you too will experience shalom” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Shalom signifies many things, including salvation, wholeness, integrity, soundness, community, connectedness, righteousness, justice, and well-being. Shalom denotes a right relationship with God, with others, and with God’s good creation.

Flourishing in today’s culture is synonymous with success in today’s world. 

But, by being mindful of flourishing in a biblical sense, rewards not only you and your business, but it also leads to the flourishing of others.  And it benefits your community and the world as a whole.

Shalom.